[metmom]

If you believe that Judas wasn’t Saved at some point, the implication would be that Jesus chose Judas in order for him to fail which would make Jesus appear to be duplicitous.

But Jesus didn't act or not act for appearance sake.

No matter what anyone does, SOMEONE is always going to find fault.

Here we had Jesus, perfect in every way, the the Pharisees still found fault with Him.

If being perfect wasn't good enough for them, then NOTHING Jesus could do would satisfy them.

Jesus picked Judas for the reason of fulfilling prophecy and being God, He had the right to do it, no matter how or if someone misinterpreted it.

There's a world of difference between appearing to be duplicitous and actually being duplicitous.

And often that is based on worldview of the person observing.

[AppyPappy]

Yes but we would be arguing that Jesus chose Judas specifically for him to fail. IOW Judas was condemned from the moment he was chosen. I don’t see that in the Scripture. Judas was stealing but Peter rebuked Jesus, calling him a liar. So sin was still present in the Disciples while Jesus was with them.

It reduces the whole of the Gospels into mere theater, with all the actors simply playing their roles.